Glass thickness question

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A

AdzyHany

Gambusia
MFK Member
May 5, 2011
133
2
16
35
peterborough, Ontario, Canada
im getting quotes on some stuff to start a plywood build. id like to do starphire glass but the only place around me that sells it, carries up to 19mm thick. So this is determining the size of my tank. I was thinking 10' by 6' by ?? What kind of depth can I get? I have been reading about it for about an hour but I seems to differ. And im guessing the glass is stronger in the plywood tanks because the wood is holding the glass all the way around? Seems obvious that it would be sturdier but im no scientist.

Also, are there any real benefits to a concrete tank? I finish concrete for a living and can get concrete pretty cheap. Worth it?
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I follow these wood/plywood builds and the reinforcement, fasteners, sealing etc. always seems like a lot of extra work over simple concrete.
If you have the know-how and weight wasn't an issue I'd think concrete would be the easier (if not cheaper) option. A nice mottled steel-float finish would look fantastic.
Around here glass comes in 8'x4' sheets, so a 10' length may be a special order (IE costly).
A
 
Thanks for the reply. im considering doing a concrete build. There is a lot of people on here doing plywood tanks but I think half of them could have used concrete and ended up with a stronger tank and had the same hole in the pocket. a tank at the size I want is roughly 150, maybe 175 bags of concrete (since the tank will be poured in the location its staying, its pointless to order a cement truck just to full buckets to get it to the basement. May as well rent a mixer and mix bags yourself) if I remember correctly, regular stone mix is about $5 a bag. Plus the cost of forms. And it still needs to be sealed. I don't think it would be as cheap as plywood but definitely worth the little extra for the strength. The girl friend and I just decided to get a new house so im going to wait until after we move to do this. Any advice on depth with 3/4" glass?

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AdzyHany said:
Thanks for the reply. im considering doing a concrete build. There is a lot of people on here doing plywood tanks but I think half of them could have used concrete and ended up with a stronger tank and had the same hole in the pocket. a tank at the size I want is roughly 150, maybe 175 bags of concrete (since the tank will be poured in the location its staying, its pointless to order a cement truck just to full buckets to get it to the basement. May as well rent a mixer and mix bags yourself) if I remember correctly, regular stone mix is about $5 a bag. Plus the cost of forms. And it still needs to be sealed. I don't think it would be as cheap as plywood but definitely worth the little extra for the strength. The girl friend and I just decided to get a new house so im going to wait until after we move to do this. Any advice on depth with 3/4" glass?

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With 3/4" glass the maximum height would be about 3 feet.


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Once had a tank 4' tall w 3/4 and it made me nervous
 
I think ill go with 44" wide glass. 4" overlap at top and bottom making the viewing 36". Im just pricing out the difference between 8' and 9' long. Im planning on 10' long tank so id like a 9' window but if its going to be a crazy amount more then ill just do 8'. Also whI knows the correct heating for 1645 gallons? 10'x6'x44"

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